How to pronounce largest in American English

IPA /ˈlɑrdʒəst/ Syllables 2 · lar·juhst Stress 1st syllable

LAR·juhst

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Americans pronounce largest as LAR-juhst (/ˈlɑrdʒəst/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The merger between the two companies created the largest bank".

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Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

Overall assessment

Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Common mistakes

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch LAR — keep everything else short and quick.

Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.

Don't pronounce the first syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "largest".

2 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

l/l/

Place the tip of your tongue against the alveolar ridge just behind your top front teeth, the same contact point as /t/, /d/, and /n/. The difference is what happens to the air: for /l/, you let it flow continuously around the <em>sides</em> of the tongue (that's why /l/ is called a lateral). Turn your voice on the whole time. Lips stay relaxed, no rounding or flaring. For the Dark L variant at the end of a syllable, also pull the back of the tongue up and back toward the soft palate.

ar/ɑr/

Open wide for the 'ah' vowel. Lift the tongue back and up while flaring the lips for the 'r'.

j/dʒ/

Touch the front of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, then release into a 'zh' position. Add vocal cord vibration.

uh/ʌ/

Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.

s/s/

Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.

t/t/

Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.

In real conversation

Hear "largest" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"The merger between the two companies created the largest bank."

dhuh MUR·jer buh·TWEEN dhuh TOO KUHM·puh·neez kree·AY·duhd dhuh LAR·juhst BANGK

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Watch out

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch LAR — keep everything else short and quick.

lar·JUHST→LAR·juhst

Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.

Don't pronounce the first syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.

LAR·JUHST→LAR·juhst

Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.

Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.

… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

How is "largest" stressed in American English?

Stress falls on the first syllable — say "LAR" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "LAR-juhst" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.

Why does the second syllable in "largest" reduce to "uh"?

Unstressed syllables in American English collapse toward a schwa — a lazy, neutral "uh" sound. The full vowel is what textbooks teach, but in actual American speech every unstressed vowel reduces. The respell "LAR-juhst" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.

How do I pronounce the R in "largest"?

Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.

Is the American pronunciation of "largest" different from British English?

American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "LAR-juhst" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.

Now you try.

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Overall assessment

Common mistakes

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.

Every sound in "largest".

Hear "largest" in the wild.

Words that work the same way.

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

Stressing the wrong syllable.

Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.

Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.

Questions people ask about this.

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